The Best Bargain Transfers of All Time: Part Three
Posted by Rob Shepherd on Monday, April 10, 2017
In the 3rd in our series on football’s best transfer bargains we continue our look at the best buys in football. Cheap and cheerful, we look at the best players with the lowest price tags but the greatest skill.
Gary McAllister, 2000, Liverpool – Free
Many Liverpool fans were in disbelief when then manager Gerard Houllier signed veteran midfielder Gary McAllister on a free transfer in 2000. Some were questioning Liverpool’s lack of ambition in signing the 35-year-old. Even future club legend Steven Gerrard was doubtful in his autobiography;
“He seemed an odd buy,” Gerrard wrote in his book, “OK, he was once a terrific midfielder for Leeds United and Scotland, but McAllister was now thirty-five, his best days surely behind him … I rang my agent, Struan Marshall, who knew McAllister well.
“Stru, what’s all this about?” I asked.
“‘Don’t worry, Stevie,” replied Struan, “Gary Mac will be brilliant for Liverpool, and for you as well. Listen to him. Learn from him.”
“‘Sod off, Stru” I said. “McAllister can learn off me!”. “How wrong I was.” Gerrard said.
Gary was born in Motherwell in 1964, he played for his local team Motherwell between 1981 – 1985. In his time at the club he made 70 appearances and scored 8 goals. His performance in the 1985 Scottish Cup against Celtic was the one that got McAllister noticed by clubs south of the boarder.
1985, Leicester City – £350,000 (Combined Fee)
In August 1985, Leicester City manager Gordon Milne signed both McAllister and team-mate Ally Mauchlen for a combined fee of £350,000. At the time, Ally was the main signing with McAllister viewed as a ‘make-weight’.
McAllister soon became a first team regular and became popular with the fans. When Gordon Milne left the club to be replaced by Bryan Hamilton, McAllister was asked to play in a variety of positions, thus McAllister’s form began to suffer. This would change when David Pleat took charge, with Pleat at the helm, McAllister started to become the player that history remembers him as.
Easily one of the best players in Division Two, he was named in the team of the year for 1988 and 1989. These consistent performances led to Nottingham Forest boss Brian Clough trying to sign Gary for £1.15 million. McAllister turned this offer down. In 1990, McAllister would sign for Leeds United, in his five years at Leicester, he scored 52 goals in 225 appearances.
1990, Leeds United – £1,000,000
A tribunal set the price for Gary at £1 million, remember this was before the Bosman ruling that enabled freedom of movement for players out of contract. Back in 1990, a tribunal would determine what price the buying club would have to pay.
Gary joined Leeds at the right time, Leeds had just secured promotion to the top flight and would finish this first season in Division One in a respectable fourth place. The next year, Leeds would claim the top prize in English football and win the league.
McAllister would spend six seasons at Leeds, he scored 45 goals in 294 games.
1996, Coventry City – £3,000,000
When a player in his 30’s transfers to another club it is normally for a nominal fee but the £3 million that Coventry paid (treble what Leeds had paid) is testament to how recognised McAllister’s ability was. Perhaps one of the reasons why Coventry paid so much for him was the hat-trick that McAllister had scored against Coventry in the 1995 season.
Despite a lack of silverware, the real story of Gary’s time at Coventry was the great escape (not the 1963 film starring Steve McQueen – but the football one was just as dramatic) that Coventry performed in 1996. Coventry looked doomed, Ron Atkinson had stood aside to let Gordon Strachan take charge. However, wins against Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham achieved what few thought possible – Coventry stayed up.
McAllister would spend four seasons at Coventry, he scored 26 goals in 140 games.
2000, Liverpool – Free
At 35-years-old, McAllister moved on a Bosman to Liverpool. To say Liverpool fans were underwhelmed would be a huge understatement but Gérard Houllier’s decision to sign the ageing midfielder would turn out to be a masterstroke.
His ability from a dead ball situation was instrumental in the year when Liverpool won a treble of cups. He of course reached legendary status when he scored a free kick from 44 yards, in the fourth minute of stoppage time to beat fierce rivals Everton.
He followed this up with the penalty winner against the mighty Barcelona in the UEFA Cup semi-final.
The first of the three trophies were to be decided on penalties, McAllister scored Liverpool’s opener. McAllister also came on as a substitute in Liverpool’s 2-1 win against Arsenal.
However, one of his finest games was in the UEFA Cup Final against Deportivo Alavés.
McAllister scored one and was involved in three of Liverpool’s 5 in a thrilling 5-4 win over Deportivo Alavés. This performance easily won him the man of the match award.
This year was an incredible year for Liverpool. Winning the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA, the cherry on top was Liverpool clinching Champions League qualification on the very last day of the season. This veteran player deserves his praise in this article for this season alone.
McAllister would spend two seasons at Liverpool, he scored 9 goals in 87 games. It wasn’t the number of goals he scored but the importance of the goals he scored as Liverpool won a unique treble of trophies.
2002, Coventry City – Free – Player Manager
As a Coventry City favourite, McAllister returned to the club he had enjoyed four years with. This didn’t work out and Gary took a four-year hiatus from football. He would later take control of another previous club, Leeds United.
Only two defeats in twelve games was enough for McAllister to be awarded a 12-month contract but rather predictably with the trigger-happy Ken Bates as chairman, things were never going to end up well. McAllister was fired on 21st December 2008.
After Leeds, McAllister had spells with Middlesbrough, Aston Villa and is currently an ambassador at Liverpool.